Macintosh Manager: Ways to Mount Volumes

Using the method presented here, you may mount (connect to) volumes for use within the Macintosh Manager environment.
When a student logs in at a Macintosh Manager client workstation, that computer by default connects to the Macintosh Manager shared folder on the startup volume of the designated authentication server. Using the following techniques, other volumes may be accessed or used for storage.

Terminology: What is a "volume," or an "authentication server"?

A "volume" is a unit of storage. Physically speaking, examples of a volume include:

A volume behaves as a single, independent disk on the desktop, regardless of its physical form. Additional volumes may be physically connected to the authentication server or to other computers. A multi-volume or multi-server setup may be attractive or even necessary when each of a large number of students needs to store a relatively large amount of data, such as an iMovie project. When connecting to a server, a share point (whether a single folder or an entire disk) also behave as a volume.

A "share point" is a folder or volume that has been designated for sharing by an AppleShare IP or Mac OS X Server.

"Authentication server" is a specific way of referring to the Macintosh Manager server to which a student logs on when beginning a Macintosh Manager session. Because it verifies the student's name and password, it is called an "authentication" server. The authentication server uses either AppleShare IP or Mac OS X Server in conjunction with Macintosh Manager software. In advanced setups which may include multiple servers, understanding which is the authentication server is important.

Common reasons that Macintosh Manager users may want to add volumes include:

The steps presented here require that you know how to set privileges in AppleShare IP. For general questions about setting privileges, see these documents:

60612: "AppleShare IP 6.3: About Sharing, Share Points, and Access Privileges"
31265: "Macintosh Manager 1.3: Saving Workgroup Documents to Another Volume"

The Multiple Users User/Macintosh Manager User

When Macintosh Manager users are at the log-on screen, they connect to the Macintosh Manager authentication server via a special AppleShare user. If the authentication server is using AppleShare IP, that user is named Multiple Users User. For authentication servers using Mac OS X Server, that user is named Macintosh Manager User. If a user logs on to a workgroup that has a Documents folder outside the default Macintosh Manager volume on the authentication server, the authentication server disconnects that user from the default volume and automatically forwards the user's connection to the correct volume--a process that is transparent to the user.

Note: When an added Documents volume is local (physically connected) to the Macintosh Manager authentication server, users who belong to more than one workgroup will not be able to switch between them while logged on. In other circumstances this may be possible via the Macintosh Manager Icon in the menu bar. Users affected by this may switch workgroups by logging off and logging back on to the new workgroup.

Here's a simple test for determining if your Multiple Users or Macintosh Manager User has appropriate access to a volume:

You should now see the list of volumes to which the Multiple Users User or Macintosh Manager User has access. If the volume you need to mount does not appear in the list, make sure that the Macintosh Manager User or Multiple Users User has read or read-write privileges to the volume.

Important notes for setting privileges:
Once you have successfully logged on, follow these steps to connect to a volume automatically for members of a workgroup:

You do not need to check the box next to "Always try automatic log-in with user's name and password first."
Published Date: Feb 17, 2012